denver/pitt - inside info? :)

[vanbasten]

call it what you want, just passing this along

talked with my future brother in law yesterday. he is best friends with a player on the denver broncos. they went to high school together, hang out when he's back in town, in fact he went out by himself to stay with him over christmas and went to the broncs game on christmas eve to watch him.

well, my BIL to be is a big steelers fan, so his bronco friend called him yesterday to raz him a little about the game. said to enjoy his last week of football, your steelers don't stand a chance...yada, yada, yada.

what he did say that i found interesting was this...

"if we (broncos) get up by 7 to 10 it's over. the defense just came out of meetings today and all they could talk about was that your boy Ben doesn't react well to pressure. they feel real confident about their game plan."

of cousre my BIL's retort was "Ben seemed to do just fine against indy" and he just said back "playing in indy indoors ain't like playin in denver, remember our air's a little thinner up here"

my take on this is - denver plans to blitz, and blitz alot if they get a lead. also pitt playing their third road game in three weeks. my coin is on the broncos.

now to play devil's advocate i'm sure there are many conversations between pitt. players and their friends with similar confidence about how they can beat the broncos....just wanted top pass this along

 

[JCam]

Hello vanbasten..

With all due respect, don't you think that Pittsburgh's game plan will be the very same against Denver with regard to blitzing the hell out of Jake Plummer?

Also the very same statement "if we (broncos) get up by 7 to 10 it's over" could apply to Pittsburgh as well, personally I think that is a little false bravado on the Denver players part because it was Pittsburgh that was able to do what Denver has not been able to do...beat the Colts in their dome in a playoff game.

I think Pittsburgh is the better overall team and also think the Steelers have a much better blitz package than what Denver brings to the table, don't you think teams tried to blitz blitz blitz young Roethlisberger each game last year when he started as a rookie?

Oddly enough, Roethlisberger who is only in his second year has a playoff record of 3-1 with Pittsburgh while Plummer has a playoff record of 1-2 with Denver, I think this is Pittsburgh's year and Steeler RB Jerome Bettis will get to play a Super Bowl in front of his home town, but hey...what do I know?

take care and be well

Jim

 

[Hamburglar]

Don't take this personally, but that is a bad reason to go Denver, and Denver will certainly have their hands full this weekend. I bet denver last week with confidence and won easy $$, but only a fool underestimates their enemy. Pittsburg IS for real! Don't go putting the farm on it.
Good Luck!

 

[maverick2112]

Boy, I sure hope Denver doesnt apply that same kind of pressure to Ben as they did to Tom Brady...........I am sure Cowher and Ben are shaking in their boots considering how successful they were vs the Pats.............

 

[JCam]

:s4:

Hello my friends..

Pittsburgh sacked Manning 5 times last week which gives Pittsburgh 9 sacks in their two playoff wins, for the season the Steelers now have a total of 31 sacks which is tops in the NFL.

Meanwhile, the Bronco's were able to get to Brady ZERO times last week and for the season have a total of 19 sacks, Denver is a nice team and I won with them last week.

But with that being said Denver's 14 point win over the Patriots was mostly a by-product of FIVE New England turnovers, hell's fire, 24 of Denver's 27 points were the direct result of points from turnovers which came from having a short field.

All the pressure is on Plummer and his Bronco's in this one, it is they who are the #2 seed and are playing at home as a favorite, after being booted from the playoffs the past two seasons by Indy the Bronc fans will go nuts if Denver loses this game on their home field...and Plummer along with the rest of the Bronco's know it.

take care and be well

Jim

 

[vanbasten]

please don't make too much out of my initial post.

the story was just that - a story that was of interest to me anyways, that i wanted to pass along. it's cool to know a player, or to have met a player, hang out and have a couple of drinks with on a few occasions. played volleyball with him a couple of times as well. nice to know that some are as down to earth as the next person. i know him ok. nice kid.

his take on the player's meetings and their confidence in this game is what i wanted to pass along. you can make of it what you want. as i said, i'm sure pitt. players are confident also, and will bring a great game plan.

i'm on the broncos for several reasons and it's not a big play for me. tough time of year to make $$ the nfl.

did i mention this is pitt's third road game in a row??...ahhh, i know what i forgot to mention...it's their fifth road game in six weeks.

should be a helluva game.

good luck to all

 

[romanowski]

I think Ben may have reinjured his thumb against Indy, Cowhers play calling in the late 3rd quarter and 4th would indicate he did.

 

[Hindsite]

I think Ben may have reinjured his thumb against Indy, Cowhers play calling in the late 3rd quarter and 4th would indicate he did.

When you are up by 11 in a hostile environment, running the ball is the smart thing to do... Ben is fine...

 

[hawkeye]

Denver blitz's a lot every game-nothing new here!

 

[acer69]

remember fellas, It will be much harder to sack Plummer, he is a very mobile QB unlike Manning who could possibly be the slowest in the league. I'm sure Denver will have a lot of roll out plays for him with lots of screens.

 

[Dizzayton]

Bledsoe is slower than Manning, but other than that he is the slowest in the league.

 

[vinnie]

vanbasten,
A friend of mine just got signed with broncos this month.

Maybe you heard of him Martin Bibla played high school ball in Mt Top, PA.
Went on to Miami Fla and was drafted by the Falcons a few years ago.

 

[hedgehog]

I have heard of Bibla

Who does the BIL know?

 

[Colonel_JB]

Seattle is tops in the league with 50 sacks this year.

The reason Denver will have more success than Indy did last week is because they can run the ball very well which should relieve some of the pass pressure that the Steelers generate by blitzing. Expect to see lots of play action, rollouts, etc. to keep Pittsburgh guessing on defense as well as exploiting those blitz packages they use. The Steelers live by the blitz and will ultimately die by the blitz this weekend. I know how good the Steelers are at running the ball but Denver is better and they are better at stopping the run as well. Should be a very physical game and I cant wait to watch this weekend. Hopefully the refs don't fawk it up like they have done in virtually every post season game this year.

 

[smurphy]

There should be a Steeler letdown after the Colt gamel. They've had a fine run the last couple months. It will catchup to them this week, I believe.

A little stat that bodes well for Denver - in the last 20 years they are 5-1 in AFC Champ games while Pitt is 1-5, with most of Pitt's losses as home favorites. Huge home edge for Denver in this one. Unlike Indy, they do well in this situation.

 

[jmizeus]

There should be a Steeler letdown after the Colt gamel. They've had a fine run the last couple months. It will catchup to them this week, I believe.

A little stat that bodes well for Denver - in the last 20 years they are 5-1 in AFC Champ games while Pitt is 1-5, with most of Pitt's losses as home favorites. Huge home edge for Denver in this one. Unlike Indy, they do well in this situation.

what about the broncos having a letdown after beating the champs?

 

[REBEL YELL]

I think Ben may have reinjured his thumb against Indy, Cowhers play calling in the late 3rd quarter and 4th would indicate he did.

That's the only scare factor for me in this game.

 

[edludes]

Last years AFC championship game was an obscene over,41-27 NE over Pitt.This one is going low around 14-13 Denver winning but i'm not betting that part.Glad to see that Denvers defense is confident.Play the under,not the side.GL and thanks for sharing the info VB.